Guest Column: My promise to you on International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

Nov. 18 marks International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day for family and friends of those who have taken their own lives. The following is a column by Mind Springs Health staff member Tiffany Schooley, who also has experienced a loss of a loved one from suicide.

It was the eve of my 18th birthday when I learned my cousin completed suicide. I remember details about this night and the following day with exceptional clarity.

Life was a series of thens for a while after that. Then a birthday cake I didn’t want to eat; then gifts I didn’t want to open; then a funeral; then AP Exams; then graduation; then college. I don’t know when the thens blossomed back into life but they did, and Heather’s physical absence on this earth became the new normal, the new life.

The next time a suicide affected me was when my co-workers from Mind Springs Health and I were prepping for a major event to announce the groundbreaking of the new West Springs Hospital.

In a sick twist of irony, we were prepping for an event to announce that we would treat and rebuild the lives of more people who were experiencing mental health crises, when I picked up my phone and saw a series of text messages. A friend from college had completed suicide.

I had noticed warning signs in the years past, but I never spoke up and I didn’t reach out.

That evening, three of our speakers were unable to attend the event rehearsal, so I read their speeches for them. I tried to hide my shaky voice as I spoke powerful words about the prevalence of suicide, the power of treatment and the need for community involvement.

No one can be faulted for completed suicide that I, as so many others, have witnessed. But we can agree that treatment very likely could have intervened, and that we as a community need to speak up more often.

So on International Survivors of Suicide Day this is my promise to my family, friends, acquaintances and neighbors: I promise not to let the fear of speaking out of place or overstepping our boundaries stop me from reaching out to you. I promise to speak up and say the hard things that need to be said – to ask the questions that may be awkward to ask.

Have you had thoughts of harming yourself?

Do you have a plan for how you would do it?

I promise to follow through and be part of a community that cares deeply about your life.

The Dog Days of Summer were on full display this past month, as a variety of concerns pushed stocks and bond yields lower. After reaching new record highs in late July, the S&P 500 Index dropped approximately three percent in August as trade concerns pressured investor sentiment around the world. Impacts of U.S.–China trade tensions reverberated throughout the economy and financial markets in recent weeks, including weakening global manufacturing data and plunging sovereign interest rates.